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02 Feb 98 - 09:41 PM (#20510) Subject: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Rick C. I am looking for the lyrics to Goodnight Irene. My granddaughter loves this particular song, but do not all the words. Thanks. |
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02 Feb 98 - 11:26 PM (#20516) Subject: Lyr Add: GOODNIGHT IRENE (from Leadbelly) From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Here is the Leadbelly version: I asked your mother for you CHO: Sometimes I lives in the Country Cho Stop ramblin' and stop gamblin Cho I love my Irene That is the version done in the so-called "Last sessions". There are several other ones he did for Moses Ashe. When the Weavers made their popular version they cleaned it up a bit. The replaced some of the repetitious "Goodnight Irene"s with "Irene Goodnight"s. they changed "get you in my dreams" to "see you in my dreams", and they changed "morphine" to "poison". Otherwise, I think the above is the version your grandfather would have sung. Also, It seems that Leadbelly was trying to "improve" his thick southern accent and he alternats his natural pronounciation with the one he thought he should use, so when I say "sometimes I lives in the country" but "sometimes I live in town"--that is the way I hear it. Murray |
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02 Feb 98 - 11:28 PM (#20517) Subject: Lyr Add: GOODNIGHT IRENE From: Barry Sometimes I live in the country Sometimes I live in town Sometimes I get the notion To jump in the river & drown Ch. Irene goodnight, Irene goodnight Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene I'll see you in my dreams Stop you're ramblin stop you're gamblin Stop staying out late at night Go home to your wife & family Sit by your fireside bright Last Saturday I got married Me & my wife settled down Now me & my wife have parted Think I'll take a walk round town I loves Irene god knows I do love her till the sea runs dry And if Irene turns her back on me I'll take morphine & die You caused me to weep you caused me to moan You caused me to leave my home But the very last words I heard her say Huddie won't you sing me one last song "When the Lomaxs' first came hunting folk songs in the southern prisons, the State Penn at Angloa, Louisiana was the first stop & the first thing they recorded was Huddie Ledbetter singing this song. Allen Lomax says that this song was the first & actual start of the Archive Of American Folk Song. Leadbelly died Dec. 6, 1949, six months later Irene became a hit & sold 2 million & was translated into every European language". Lifted from A. Lomax's Folk Songs Of North America. I also believe that this song marched in the folk music revival. Barry |
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02 Feb 98 - 11:42 PM (#20519) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: RS Search the Digital Tradition by locating the "Search" box on the upper right hand corner of this page; type in: Good Night Irene (or even just Irene); press the Search button ... wait until a list of song titles appears, click on the one you want, & there you are! |
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02 Feb 98 - 11:47 PM (#20520) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: RS Sorry, didn't mean to sound officious; when I typed my post no one else had yet replied. The above versions do have more info than the copy already on the DT. |
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03 Feb 98 - 04:18 PM (#20544) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Another line that's missing - it's in the version on The Chieftains' "Another Country" - is Last Saturday night I got married Me and my wife settled down Now me and my wife are parted Gonna take another stroll downtown... |
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03 Feb 98 - 05:59 PM (#20554) Subject: ADD: Parody for Goodnight Irene^^^ From: chet w I heard the following tongue-in-cheek version...OK I wrote it. It has generally been popular around here. Irene grew up in the country Her daddy raised chickens and ducks I called her up last Friday night To see if she wanted to talk CHO Irene good night, Irene good night Goodnight Irene, Goodnight Irene I'll see you in my dreams Irene she drives a Plymouth And sometimes she drives a truck Irene was only twelve years old When she first started to drive CHORUS Irene wins money at gambling She's always had plenty of luck One night out back of the barroom A cowboy showed Irene his horse CHORUS It's in the ear of the behearer. Please don't be offended. All in good fun, Chet W.^^^ |
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03 Feb 98 - 06:02 PM (#20556) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Bob Landry Chet - great tune - can I use it, huh? huh? |
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03 Feb 98 - 07:54 PM (#20565) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: murray@mpce.mq.edu.au Chet, The last line of your posting should have been It's in the ear of the behearer Murray |
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04 Feb 98 - 08:59 AM (#20604) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Bert "behearer" Now that's a good word. |
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04 Feb 98 - 01:06 PM (#20621) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Bill D from the depths of my memory...(gotta upgrade the RAM in there someday)
"Sometimes Irene wears pyjamas
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04 Feb 98 - 06:52 PM (#20659) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: chet w Bob, use away. just let me know if you have a hit record. I have to admit that the "ear of the behearer" is not my phrase. I got it from an album cover by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Love the extra verses. Chet W. |
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04 Feb 98 - 09:05 PM (#20669) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Bob Landry Chet, me with a hit record? I doubt it. Maybe a free beer at a local open mike session. If that works, I'll let you know and we can hoist one across the miles. Maybe we can update Bill D's verse by changing the "gown" to a "frock". Bob |
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06 Feb 98 - 09:28 AM (#20793) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Art Thieme TRY THIS: I love Irene-God knows I do, Love her 'til the seas run dry, And if Irene turns her back on me Gonna eat cholesterol and die.----Art Thieme |
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11 Jan 99 - 05:13 PM (#53486) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Charlie Re: Bill D.'s verse: "Sometimes Irene wears pyjamas Sometimes, she wears a gown But when they're both in the laundry, Irene is the talk of the town" The Southland Quartet from Augusta, Ga. sings this verse: Sometimes she weareth Pajamas Sometimes she weareth a Gown Sometimes she puts 'em in the laundry That's when we goes to town.
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10 Apr 99 - 09:49 PM (#69826) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: b_gillen@hotmail.com Hi - I know this thread is a bit old, but maybe somebody's still out there listening... I seem to recall a version of Goodnight Irene in which it begins: Irene stop your roamin' You came home late last night (can't remember this line) Come stay with me tonight. Is this lyric in any version that anybody knows? Thanks, Bridget. |
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27 Oct 04 - 01:45 AM (#1308352) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Blissfully Ignorant Ooh, this is an old thread, but there's a version with this verse in it- Sometimes there's a change in the ocean Sometimes a change in the sea Sometimes there's a change in my own true love But never no change in me I don't know the origins of it, but i've got a Michelle Shocked CD where she sings that verse. Just my favourite song ever! First one where i got my co-ordination together and was able to sing and play guitar at the same time. Sounds stupid, but then i am... |
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27 Oct 04 - 06:02 AM (#1308466) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Mr Red Ya can't beat a good Delta Blues Song. |
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27 Oct 04 - 02:57 PM (#1308871) Subject: RE: lyrics for Goodnight Irene From: Tannywheeler Heard this verse at a party from someone just foolin' around: "Some people live in houses; Some folks live over stores. My girl lives in a place downtown With sixteen other women." It feels so good to sing this song. Anything one can do to extend the pleasure is OK. imho Tw |
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27 Oct 04 - 09:37 PM (#1309190) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Joe_F Tannywheeler: That stanza, I believe, has drifted in from "Bang, Bang, Lulu" and should be sent back where it belongs. I have also heard "Goodnight Irene, you sex machine." |
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28 Oct 04 - 06:21 AM (#1309407) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Flash Company Remember I once had an argument with a Folk Club organiser because I sang 'get you in my dreams'. Had to lend her the record to prove I was right! FC |
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28 Oct 04 - 12:03 PM (#1309634) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Bill D what? You mean even the composer didn't know the 'right' words? |
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28 May 08 - 03:48 AM (#2350760) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: GUEST,Gerrymac Iteresting discussion. When I lived in Dallas and performing at a coffee house and some beer bars I used to include this as the song's final verse with good audience response. I don't have a dictionary handy so excuse the mispelled words. Some say Irene is a schitzo, Her rorchark shows paranoic signs The kid's Id's on the skid But she's still a good kid And I'll love her Until she's confined |
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28 May 08 - 11:48 AM (#2351081) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: GUEST,Jim I've heard: If I had the wings of an eagle, If I had the wings of a dove, If I had the wings of a nightingale, I'd fly to the one I love. |
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28 May 08 - 09:07 PM (#2351560) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Joe_F Guest Jim: Cf. The Prisoner's Song (1924): If I had the wings of an angel, Over these prison walls I would fly Straight into the arms of my loved one, And then I'd be willing to die. Extensively parodied. |
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28 May 08 - 09:49 PM (#2351579) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Leadfingers Definately NOT the Original , but :- If I had the wings of an Eagle And the dirty black arse of a crow I'd fly so high all over the town And crap on the people below OK - I've already got my coat ! |
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29 May 08 - 03:46 PM (#2352317) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: GUEST,Jim If I had the wings of an eagle, If I had the wings of a dove, If I had the wings of a nightingale, I'd fly to the one I love. The late Hedy West sang this on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest show. She, Pete and Mississippi John alternated verses. John Hurt started the song and played it in 4/4 time. |
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29 May 08 - 04:08 PM (#2352346) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Doc John Can't anyone work out what the song is actually about? Lead Belly's interpolations on the long 2 disc LofC recording is difficult to follow. It seems to mw like disjointed verses cobbeled together blues fashion but oddly set in 3/4 time. |
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09 Aug 12 - 12:51 PM (#3388023) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Larry The Radio Guy I think it's about a guy who gets married, but leaves his wife due to an infatuation with a young girl (how old we don't know....but still under the care of her mother who told him that "she was too young"). He threatens suicide, verbally berates her......then decides he needs to go back to his wife and family and forget all this nonsense. Alas, but it doesn't work.....and now he's threatening to kill himself with an overdose of morphine. Does that sound coherent? |
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09 Aug 12 - 08:26 PM (#3388179) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Joe_F Just like a man! |
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10 Aug 12 - 04:08 AM (#3388247) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Musket Parody can be dangerous.. I did an act in a charity concert once full of the usual ironmongery, Lady this, Lord that, Rt Hon the other.. As there were many seats filled with people bussed in from local care and nursing homes , I thought I would end with Goodnight Irene for them. Without really thinking, I started; Sometimes I live in the country, Sometimes I live in the town, Sometimes I have a great notion, To burn the shithouse down. As I carried on, I could hear murmerings from the stalls, "Did he just...??" |
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10 Aug 12 - 04:44 AM (#3388252) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Goodnight Irene From: Nigel Parsons Suitable for this Diamond Jubilee Year, Spike Milligan added the verse (on Spike Milligan & Jeremy Taylor Live at Cambridge University): God save the Queen, Irene God save the Queen. Oh God save the Queen, I mean Irene. For God's sake, Save the Queen. Nigel |